Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the “ErwerbungsVorschlags-Assistent” (EVA), its underlying concepts and first usage statistics and experiences at the University Library of Duisburg-Essen, and explore its methodology of patron driven acquisition in regard to printed material, specifically interlibrary loan requests.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a case study approach, describing the effects of the new system on existing ILL workflows and collection development decision-making.

Findings – EVA has been in production in several German university libraries since October 2011. ILL requests are automatically compared to specific criteria in regard to their suitability as an acquisition, enriched with external data, and presented to the appropriate subject librarian.

Originality/value – This paper was originally presented at the 2012 IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Helsinki, Finland, session 139, “Treating print in an increasingly digital collection: issues, dilemmas, and directions”, 14 August 2012. ILL, collection development, and ILL system developers will find the content useful.